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The stage is divided into three parts. The right and left sections are about equal in length and are a little taller than the middle section. The middle section is the longest, with a smaller platform suspended above it. This stage may sound simple, but is actually rather dangerous. Getting caught in the current under the stage is likely to result in a KO as it is hard to get back on the stage. Klaptraps swim by every 10 seconds (in Brawl), jumping out of the water to attack (30% damage), resulting in a one-hit KO.

In Brawl, it is easier to get back on stage when caught in the current because all characters can swim for a time, floating in the river rather than sinking. However, the swift current will still carry players to the left very quickly, sometimes KOing them before they have a chance to jump out. This makes the right side of the stage considerably safer. It is difficult to vertically KO opponents on Jungle Japes, as the upper blast line is extremely high, being higher above the platforms than on any other stage in Melee and Brawl. In contrast, the other blast lines are fairly close.

The stage is currently banned in Melee, due to it favouring characters with good jumping and projectile abilities, gimping potential on both sides of the stage, Klaptrap being too powerful a stage hazard, and having an incredibly high ceiling that gives a disproportionate advantage to horizontal finishers. Furthermore, the stage's relatively small size poorly accommodates doubles.

The stage is also banned in the Unity Ruleset of Brawl, for the same reasons, though it has seen some use in experimental rulesets.

This stage is infamous for causing glitches in Melee with CPU characters. Many computer-controlled characters will regularly self-destruct, even when set to Level 9. However, those glitches have been fixed in Brawl. Some odd behaviors include:

If a Fox CPU is KO'd once, one can move to the platform on the right before Fox returns to cause him to SD repeatedly. A glitch causes Fox to jump forwards, be pulled underneath the middle platform and use Fire Fox, falling to his doom. This pattern will endlessly repeat unless Fox is attacked or the human-controlled player moves.

If a human player remains motionless in a one-on-one match with a Level 9 Ness, Ness will jump, double-jump, and try to perform a PK Thunder. However, the PK Thunder will hit the edge of the platform and he will become helpless and SD.

When playing against a CPU Level 9 Roy, the CPU player will jump towards the player. However, as it falls into the pit in front of him/her, Roy will use a Blazer to recover; he does so in the opposite direction of the platform the player stands on, but he will try to DI towards the player, guaranteeing a KO.

While the name of this stage comes from Donkey Kong 64, the majority of the features in this stage first originated in Donkey Kong Country. One of the most common enemies in Donkey Kong Country is Klaptraps, particularly blue ones with yellow stripes on its back. The Klaptraps seen in this stage resemble the blue ones with the yellow stripes. One of the locations in Donkey Kong Country is Cranky's Cabin where Cranky Kong gives advice to the player while sitting in his rocking chair. The middle building of this stage resembles Cranky's Cabin with minor differences, such as the roof being made only of wood instead of having sheets of ribbed metal. Cranky Kong appeares as a silhouette and can be seen inside his cabin, sometimes sitting his rocking chair. In Donkey Kong 64 Cranky Kong no longer gives advice, but he is now a scientist who gives the Kongs chemicals granting powers to proceed through the game; the Erlenmeyer flask and test tubes filled with chemicals can be seen inside the cabin. Barrels are recurring objects in the Donkey Kong Country series, with a building made out of a giant barrel seen on the west side of the stage. In the background near the sunset, a flock of Neckies, a common enemy from Donkey Kong Country, can sometimes be seen flying across the horizon from left to right.

The building on the left resembles a barrel from Donkey Kong Country. If one zooms in and looks underneath it, there is a hole cut out from its bottom, revealing it to be an outhouse. This hole is absent in Smash 4.

The attack from the Klaptrap is a meteor smash in Brawl, therefore it can be meteor cancelled, though it is very difficult to do. In Melee, the attack from the Klaptrap is a spike.

Even though the name Jungle Japes originates from the first world in Donkey Kong 64, Brawl listed the game origin of this stage as Donkey Kong Country.